Servicing

Don Abbey, the famed founder of eponymous commercial real estate company The Abbey Co., has put another mega property on the market. Recently listing his massive estate in Montana, Abbey has now put his equally expansive California abode up for sale at $78.8 million.

California-based Prospect Mortgage is preparing to welcome a new financial leader. The lender recently announced 30-year industry veteran Sandra E. Bell as the Prospect's new chief financial officer (CFO).

Goldman Sachs is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss a mortgage securities class action lawsuit that the company says could cost Wall Street tens of billions of dollars, according to a report from Reuters. The bank is facing a suit from the NECA-IBEW Health & Welfare Fund, which is suing on behalf of investors who say they were misled about the securities' risk. Goldman's lawyers are arguing against the suit, citing a 2011 decision that investors may not sue over securities they did not purchase themselves.

MetLife, Inc., announced an agreement to sell MetLife Bank, N.A.'s mortgage servicing portfolio to JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.

Construction spending rose 0.6 percent in September to its highest level since 2009, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. Spending during the month was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $851.6 billion, up from the revised August estimated of $846.2 billion. Private residential construction posted a 2.8 percent gain from August. That improvement was mostly driven by single-family building, which rose 3.9 percent as low mortgage rates spurred increased demand for new homes.

Last week's jobs report contained some good news with the bad, but analysts doubt there's enough to influence the presidential election.

Veterans United Home Loans earned a coveted spot on Great Place to Work's list of the best small and medium workplaces for 2012, the company announced.

Consumer confidence rose in October to its highest level this year, according to a survey released by The Conference Board.

The nation├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós unemployment rate inched up to 7.9 percent in October, even as the economy added 171,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The labor force--the sum of employed and unemployed--improved in October, causing the bump in the unemployment rate and signaling renewed confidence among those on the sidelines that jobs are available. With its mixed results, the report provides fodder for both President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney four days before Election Day.

After aggressively pursuing opportunities to grow, Ocwen Financial Corporation (Ocwen) reported an increase earnings in the third quarter of 2012. The mortgage servicer reported a net income of $51.4 million, or $0.37 per share in Q3 2012, a sharp increase of more than $30 million from the same quarter a year ago. Revenue soared even higher in Q3, spiking 90 percent from last year to $232.7 million. Ocwen says the figures for revenue and income from operations were record-setting numbers.